Hues of Red
by Professor Sketch
Summary: Gilbert Beilschmidt came from a line of knights. Excitement and adventure were in his veins, but he was assigned to the heir of the House of Edelstein, Roderich Edelstein. Roderich was the most boring person in the whole world, until Gilbert found a single love letter in his drawer. Suddenly, Roddy became much more interesting. PruAus
1. Red

Twenty-three years ago...

A small boy stood in the somber room, his head still but his eyes darting in every direction. He was merely three years old when he was presented to Lord and Lady Edelstein. He knelt down, as he had been taught to do and did not look up until Lord Edelstein pulled his small chin up with a rough, calloused hand.

"_Beilschmidt, _you said?" Came the deep, booming voice of the nobleman. He was addressing the trainer who had accompanied the child, as well as the man who had brought them both to the Edelstein residence.

"Grandson of the acclaimed Wilhelm Beilschmidt himself. This is the older of the two grandsons, the other is barely a year old, useless for you now, my lord." The trainer affirmed.

Lord Edelstein looked the Beilschmidt boy over again, thoroughly examining the child before he clicked his tongue in approval, "Very well, I accept. He has good blood in him. Oh, but he cannot be responsible for my heir alone. Not yet, he is still too young to handle such responsibility, I say we keep the trainer with him for ten years. Thirteen is a good age. When this boy is of that age, he may guard alone."

Little Gilbert Beilschmidt did not understand what had just happened around him, but he kept still and looked over at Lady Edelstein, who was nursing the baby that was to become Gilbert's charge. A newborn still, small and fragile in his mother's arms. His life was decided when Lady Edelstein looked him in the eyes and spoke the fate that was to be Gilbert's. "Gilbert Beilschmidt, you are to protect and care for Roderich until the day you die."

Gilbert did not move nor respond, his eyes wandered to the window where rippling grass and swaying branches with dancing leaves met his gaze. He looked back at the somber, muted colors of the room he stood in and felt a heavy weight. He so wished to be running outside in the grass, hiding from the sun that hurt his skin underneath the trees that were so gleefully inviting him to feel the breeze with them. He heard the laughter of children, he thought of Ludwig, little Ludwig. He had always known there was the possibility that he and Ludwig would be separated but it was so soon, they were both so young. He had barely said goodbye to his grandfather for the last time, he had not even said goodbye to _Ludwig_. He was torn from his thoughts by a wail. Baby Roderich was crying and reaching his little hands out in Gilbert's direction. Gilbert looked at the boy he was to serve and protect. He looked into the infant's eyes as he was pulled brusquely toward the crying child. Roderich touched Gilbert's face curiously, he pulled a bit of his future guardian's hair and tugged on the fabric of the older boy's clothes. Gilbert did not know how to react to the touches, he kept quiet, smiling slightly at the infant. Lady Edelstein raised an eyebrow in amusement and grabbed Gilbert's hand. Her newborn son immediately took hold of Gilbert's finger and squeezed it with the herculean strength all babies seem to be unaware they posses. Gilbert pulled his finger back as gently as he could, producing a giggle from the baby. He reached again for Gilbert's shirt, patting the older boy's arm lightly. Babble erupted from the infant's lips and Gilbert smiled.


	2. Apple

Twenty years ago...

Gilbert sighed as he pried Roderich's fingers off his arm. The three year old heir to the House of Edelstein made a face that warned Gilbert he was about to scream. The young knight-in-training sighed heavily as he heard the young heir inhale to fill his lungs with enough air to scream as loud as he pleased. The Beilschmidt boy turned his face and mentally counted backward to the moment when Roderich screamed. It wasn't a scream of terror, nor a cry of pain, it was the boy refusing to let his guardian go to the academy. Lord Edelstein hurried over once he heard the distinct yell of his only son calling to him. Gilbert flinched as he heard the man's boots come to a stop right in front of his young charge.

"What is it, Roderich?" Lord Edelstein inquired.

"_Him_! Father, he wants to leave my side!" Came the whiny reply. The young heir was holding his head up proudly and making a very clear pout, stamping his foot on the ground in order to demand he be taken seriously. The elder of the Edelstein lords standing in Gilbert's presence took the younger by the arm and began to explain to him that Gilbert needed to take his lessons, for no one in the House of Edelstein would be uneducated. He did not see Gilbert smile when Roderich was being taken to his room to be cared for by a young nanny he would "surely like." The young guard thanked the lord of the house and went on his way to the academy. Roderich watched him begin walking down the path from his window and followed his only child companion with his eyes until the albino was out of sight. The nanny wrenched him away from the window as gently as she could, telling the young heir that they would have fun together if the young lord behaved. Roderich made it his task to annoy the nanny into quitting so he would have to be under Gilbert's care for the entire day. He opened the window when she wasn't minding him and yelled out to the wind, "Gilbert Gilbert! You get back here and you take care of me!"

Gilbert sat down where the teacher instructed him to, finding himself beside a rather interesting long-haired boy. Whispers erupted when the long-haired boy smacked Gilbert for staring. The teacher called names and Gilbert found that he was already familiar with some names, having heard his grandfather mention them while he still lived with him and Ludwig. Hedáváry, the long-haired boy, was not a familiar name or face to _anyone, _including the teacher, who gave this child no second name when calling them. Only _Hedáváry_. Gilbert wondered what was so secret about Hedáváry that no one seemed to know the boy's given name. Hedáváry hit him again during their language lesson this time for trying to look at the paper in front of him. Hedáváry called him a "cheating scoundrel" and a "disgrace to knights everywhere" before huffing off to play in the grass during a recess from the lessons. Gilbert stay inside during the recess, opting to study rather than play during the free time. He quietly wondered to himself if Hedáváry would be as big a handful at the academy as Roderich was at home. He silently rose from his seat to look out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the Edelstein manor when the professor tapped him on the back.

"Beilschmidt, why aren't you joining the rest of your peers outdoors?" The teacher asked him gently. Gilbert startled and shuffled his feet, looking up at the tall man with a nervous expression.

"The sun hurts me, sir. When I go outside my eyes hurt and if I am out very long my skin turns raw and aches as if I had burned it in the fireplace." Gilbert answered honestly, suddenly worried he was not allowed indoors during the recess. The teacher looked him over thoughtfully and said nothing more, returning to his desk and waiting for the students to file back inside for the geography lesson. Gilbert nearly swore he saw the flag of the House of Edelstein flowing in the wind when he looked outside. He longed to be beside the young lord rather than shut up in an empty room with the sound of a scribbling pen. He weighed the pros and cons of each place and found that at least in the young lord's ever irritating presence, he was not alone. He was only on his first day at the Academy so he had no complaints to make aloud. He could keep them all in his head. Should he find some reason to complain, or an opportunity in which he could do so without facing punishment, he carefully worded his complaints to sound thought-out and indisputable. He heard the other children file in and took his seat again, actually eager to start his lessons.

Roderich ran out the door and ceremoniously pulled Gilbert inside as soon as he heard the gate shut. He had escaped from the nanny and run down to meet Gilbert as soon as he saw a snow-capped head making his way down the path. Gilbert was startled by the young lord pulling him indoors and sitting with him in front of the fireplace.

"Young lord..." The nanny called to him, only to be cut off by Roderich proudly announcing she was no longer needed.

"Gilbert is home now! You can go now. I don't need you! See? Gilbert is here and he takes care of me. I do not need you any longer!" The boy declared proudly. He held Gilbert like a trophy or some charm to ward her off. It did not work, for Lord Edelstein walked into the room upon hearing what he thought would surely become a fuss and ending it.

"Roderich, this nanny is here to stay. Your mother and I are busy people and as such we cannot always look after you. Gilbert is merely here to guard you, he is not a nanny nor do I wish him to become one. She will stay, should you need anything please go to her. One last thing, Roderich, you are not to dismiss anyone without my permission." The lord sharply cleared up the issue, giving Roderich a stern look that was met with shock and watering eyes. Roderich took Gilbert by the arm and pulled him upstairs, his tears spilling over.

"I missed you, sir." Gilbert told him honestly. Roderich gave him a look of disbelief. He looked away from Gilbert until the latter spoke again. "I was struck by the Hedáváry boy, does that amuse you?" Roderich perked up and found himself wishing to hear of Gilbert's day.

"It may amuse me. Why were you struck?" The young lord responded offhandedly.

"I wished to know his name. As I looked to his paper, he struck me and accused me of cheating. Also, he struck me for staring." Gilbert answered with a shrug.

"Why were you staring? Staring _is_ rude." Roderich huffed, almost disappointed the story was not more exciting.

"He has long hair tied back." Gilbert murmured, feeling the disappointment in his charge's voice. Roderich's eyes lit up as he pictured the description. The young lord nodded as if agreeing that in this case, he would have also been staring at the peculiar boy. "I only thought it to be curious, sir, as I have only seen ladies have long hair."

Roderich agreed, "This Hedáváry sounds curious indeed, but I do find it odd that you would look at his paper if you knew his name."

Gilbert looked at the young lord thoughtfully. He spoke not like his usual overly-sophisticated and unnecessarily eloquent self but with honest, still refined words. Something told Gilbert that the young charge was no longer trying to impress him or intimidate him, rather trying to be seen as an equal across the three year age gap between them. "The teacher only called him Hedáváry, unlike the rest of us. He had no second name. In the school I was both Gilbert and Beilschmidt. Hedáváry was only Hedáváry, nothing more."

"I say you put it from your mind and come play with me in the drawing room. I've been shut up all day by that nanny." Roderich commented. Gilbert found no reason to argue and agreed to play. "I would ask we go outside but I know your skin would burn."

Gilbert shrugged and followed the young lord to the drawing room, taking the fireplace poker and handing it to him, knowing he would want to pretend he was a knight after his day with the nanny. Roderich smiled widely as he took the poker and climbed on Gilbert's back. The noble steed, Gilbert, let Roderich ride to his heart's content, the two of them falling asleep in the library with the fireplace poker at their side and blissful looks on their faces.


End file.
